In 2023, net public electricity generation reached an all-time high for the first time, with the share of renewable energy reaching 59.7%, according to an analysis by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE. At the same time, wind and solar energy also set a new record, accounting for 57.1% of the total load.
In contrast, generation from lignite (-27%) and hard coal (-35%) fell sharply. Photovoltaics stood out in the expansion of generation capacity: at around 14 GW, the expansion was in double figures for the first time and significantly exceeded the German government's statutory climate protection target.
Pent-up demand for wind energy expansion
Wind power was once again the most important source of electricity in 2023, contributing 139.8 terawatt hours (TWh) or 32% to public electricity generation. This was 14.1% higher than the previous year's production. The share of onshore wind rose to 115.3 TWh (2022: 99 TWh), while offshore production fell slightly to 23.5 TW (2022: 24.75 TWh).
The expansion of wind energy continues to lag behind the plan: 2.7 gigawatts had been newly installed onshore by November, compared to the planned 4 GW. The expansion of offshore plants is even slower due to the necessary tenders and long construction times. Only 0.23 GW were newly installed in 2023 (planned: 0.7 GW).
Positive development in photovoltaic expansion
Photovoltaic systems generated around 59.9 TWh in 2023, of which 53.5 TWh was fed into the public grid and 6.4 TWh was consumed. At around nine TWh, June 2023 was the month with the highest solar power generation ever. The maximum solar output of 40.1 GW was reached on 7 July at 13:15, which corresponded to a 68% share of electricity generation.
The expansion of photovoltaics in 2023 significantly exceeded the German government's targets: instead of the planned 9 gigawatts, 13.2 gigawatts were installed by November, and by the end of 2023 it will be more than 14 gigawatts. This is a sharp increase compared to 2022 (7.44 GW). This is the first time in German history that PV expansion has been in double figures.
Sharp decline in coal-fired power
After German coal-fired power plants ramped up their production in 2022 - partly due to the outage of French nuclear power plants, but also due to the distortions in the electricity market caused by the war in Ukraine - their share fell significantly in 2023. As a result of the drop in coal-fired electricity exports, but also due to the favourable wind conditions, generation in November 2023 was 27% below the same month in the previous year.
Overall, generation from lignite for public electricity consumption fell by around 27 percent, from 105.94 to 77.5 TWh. Added to this are 3.7 TWh for industrial own consumption. Gross electricity generation fell to the level of 1963.
Net production from hard coal-fired power plants for public electricity consumption amounted to 36.1 TWh (- 35 percent) and 0.7 TWh for industrial own consumption. It was 21.4 TWh lower than in 2022. Gross electricity generation fell to the level of 1955. The use of natural gas to generate electricity remained slightly below the previous year's level at 45.8 TWh for public electricity supply and 29.6 for industrial own consumption. Due to the shutdown of the last three nuclear power plants Emsland, Neckarwestheim and Isar on 15 April 2023, nuclear power only contributed 6.72 TWh to electricity generation, which corresponds to a share of 1.5 %.
